Communication via wireless networks is growing rapidly, and the capabilities of handheld devices used for the consumption of multimedia information support the consumption of voice, music, still images, and video up to and including full motion content. High speed digital connectivity may be provided via a number of wireless networking technologies including those compliant with the Global System For Mobile Communications (GSM) Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (EDGE), High Speed Packet Data Access (HSPDA), CDMA 2000 1xEV-DO and 1xEV-DV, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a/b/g/n-compatible wireless local area networks (WLANs), IEEE 802.16 compatible wireless wide area networks (WiMAX), and Digital Video Broadcasting—Handheld (DVB-H) specifications, to name only a few.
Current handheld multimedia-capable devices typically support access to only one wireless network at a time, and users wishing to simultaneously consume multimedia information from multiple networks normally do so via communication sessions separated in time, and usually utilizing a separate access devices for each physical network accessed. For example, those wishing to simultaneously access full motion news video via a wireless local area network and streaming stock quotes via a wireless text messaging facility must do so using separate physical devices. If the user's wireless device is capable of accessing both information sources, it must normally be done in separate communication sessions, where the user consumes information from a first source, and then switches to a second source, in a mutually exclusive form of consumption.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.